Car thief arrested in Highland Park
A K9 team worked alongside patrol officers tracking and eventually arresting a car thief around 2 a.m. on Thurs., Aug. 4 in Highland Park.

Officer Bryan Grozav received a report of a stolen 2006 Subaru Legacy and then found the vehicle driving on South Roxbury Street. He tried to follow the car, but the driver quickly took off.
About 10 minutes later, Sergeant Tamara Floyd saw the Subaru speeding down Roxbury and emitting a strong odor caused by the driver burning the clutch.

The same smell caught the attention of Officer Sam Specht around 2:40 a.m. The officer was around 9th Avenue S.W. and S.W. Trenton Street and saw the stolen car drive into an alley near 11th Avenue S.W.
Specht found the Subaru unoccupied in the alley and requested a K9 team to respond and additional officers for containment.

K9 Officer Mark Wong and Police Dog Ziva responded and were able to pick up a scent from the suspect at the stolen car. They followed his trail to a nearby garage and found the suspect hiding behind the door. 
The 37-year-old suspect was arrested and then booked into the King County Jail for investigation of auto theft. The officers returned the vehicle to its owner.
 
Assault on Harbor Ave.
Officers responded to a report of an assault around 4 a.m. on Mon., Aug. 1. The caller was located on the 2400 block of Harbor Avenue S.W. and said he had been riding his bike in the area, when a white four-door vehicle drove up. Three Latino men were inside and asked the man to follow them if he wanted to join them for a beer. At one point, they stopped and threw a bottle at the cyclist’s face and drove away, leaving their victim with a bloody nose. The man was transported to a hospital for treatment.
 
Man sprayed with mace near Avalon Way
Police were dispatched to the 3000 block of S.W. Avalon Way around 10:35 p.m. on Wed., July 27. A male victim was covered in water and his eyes were swollen shut. He said that he had been walking in the area and encountered another man, who without any warning, pulled out a can of mace, sprayed him and tried to stab him with a knife. The victim used his bike as a shield, screamed and the suspect ran off. The victim was in too much pain to talk about the incident. Police believe that he may have been withholding information.
 
 
Burglars go after vending machine
Officers contacted a complainant at 7:30 a.m., Thurs., July 28 on the 9000 block of 16th Avenue S.W. to investigate a crime that occurred overnight. Burglars had smashed a double pane window to the game room on the north side of the building. The officers determined that the suspects had not entered other sections of the building and all that had been damaged were vending machines. The suspects tried to break open the cash box on the beverage machine and pry open the door on a snack machine. The complainant said that the building had a surveillance system and an alarm system and that for some reason, the alarm was not on. He agreed to send surveillance footage to the police. Officers also took a few parts of the vending machine back to the precinct to check for fingerprints.